Sustainability Spotlight: LPSDO Waste Management Redesign

The Compost Program has now arrived at the District Office! LPS is already collecting organic waste for composting from 57 school cafeterias, and now the District Office (LPSDO) is the most recent building to join the program. But that is not all that has changed at LPSDO! With the collaboration of staff and custodians, waste stations were redesigned which included uniform labeling, right sizing bins, and making sure appropriate bins were available throughout the building. To implement the compost program, staff lounges were modified for additional collection spaces and restroom waste bins were converted to compost only for paper towels.

As part of this waste management redesign, these SLIDES were shared with staff to not only communicate all of the do’s and don’ts for recycling and composting, but also to highlight the waste management hierarchy and the ways that staff can further reduce waste. 

As a result of the redesign process, over 100 excess landfill and recycling bins were removed, which will reduce plastic liner waste and save staff time. The compost collection at this building has also diverted over 500 pounds of food waste and paper towels from the landfill so far. For comparison, in August 2019 the LPSDO only had a diversion rate of 22% for their building. With the waste redesign and composting, the August 2020 diversion rate was up to 39%, and that number is expected to continue increasing. Great work LPSDO Staff!